


Rags to Riches

by Janecrocker



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: M/M, i doubt ill ever finish this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-19
Updated: 2013-08-28
Packaged: 2017-12-24 00:04:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/932678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janecrocker/pseuds/Janecrocker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil is a homeless teenager who Carlos decides to befriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I had been waiting weeks for my paycheck. I needed the money for some books for the new semester of college, which was starting in two weeks. When I finally got it, the first thing I did was move the money to my bank account. I waited a few days so the transaction definitely went through and then grabbed my debit card, filled my gas tank, and then walked to the nearby book store.

On my way there I saw a clothing store. In front of the store was the standard display, just some mannequins wearing some of the store’s best clothing. There were a few people standing in front of the window, observing the outfits.

But one stood out from the rest for two reasons. One: everyone refused to stand near them. Two: they were wearing old, dirty looking clothes.

Curious, I stepped closer to the stranger. Upon closer inspection, he was a boy, no older than seventeen. His blonde hair was dirty and oily, as if he hadn’t showered in a while. He seemed to hear my approach because he turned to look at me as I got closer. His shocking lavender colored eyes focused in on me. His face, too, was caked with dirt and grime.

“Hey.” I greeted him once I was right next to him.

He said nothing for a second; he just continued to stare at me. “Are you talking to _me_?”

Whoa, ok, I didn’t expect the kid’s voice to be that low. “Of course.” I chuckled, making eye contact once again.

He looked around nervously before mumbling, “Uh, hi.”

“What are you looking at?” I asked, trying not to sound like some creep.

He gave me an odd look. “Clothes,” he answered.

I laughed, “Thinking about buying some?”

The boy looked down at his clothing then looked up pointedly at me.

“Oh.” I said awkwardly. I thought about the debit card that was resting in my wallet in my back pocket. “Do you want some?”

He gave a small sigh. “Well duh.”

Without a second thought I marched into the store. A woman walked up to me, “Welcome to Stitch Patterns, how may I help you?” she threw in a flirty smile but I ignored it.

“Do you see that blonde boy right there?” I pointed to the boy through the window.

She looked, “Yes. What about him, sir?”

“Would he be allowed to try on some clothes?”

She made a face. “Uh, I'm sorry but no. He’d need to clean up first.”

I sighed, “Thank you for your time.” I walked back outside and the boy looked back at me.

“What’s your name?” I asked him.

“Cecil.” He immediately answered.

“I’m Carlos.” I paused for a second, “Do you trust me, Cecil?”

He hesitated before nodding.

I looked down the street and about a block away there was a motel. “We’re going to that motel.”

He looked disgusted.

“Not for that! Just follow me.” I grabbed his arm, dragging him along behind me.

When we got there I bought a room for a night, again earning more disgusted looks from Cecil. I ignored him and shoved him into the room I had just rented.

“Are you going to tell me why you brought me here? Because I'm not going to sleep with you no matter what you offer me,” he furrowed his eyebrows, looking both angry and confused.

“I didn’t think you would be comfortable with going to my apartment.” Wow that wasn’t helping anything. “I brought you here so you can take a shower.”

He looked surprised, then happy, and then he was hugging me. “Thank you.” He sighed.

I patted his back until he finally pulled away. He looked away from my eyes shyly before turning away from me, heading towards the bathroom. A few minutes later I heard the shower running so I pulled out my phone and read a book I had bought a few days prior.

After a few chapters of my book Cecil stepped out of the bathroom wearing his dirty clothes again. He looked happy, his hair was still wet and a small smile made his face look younger. He gave me a shy look.

“Thank you for this.”

“No problem. But we aren’t done.”

One hour and a trip to the gas station later, we were back in the motel room. I watched Cecil, who was sitting on the floor, from my perch on the edge of the mattress. He was holding his three new outfits in his arms, inspecting them like they were things made by god. After he finished staring at them, he moved onto his new razors, shaving cream, deodorant, tooth brush, a few tubes of toothpaste, some water bottles, and a duffle bag.

I also gave him fifty bucks for food. He was practically rolling on the floor in excitement. He kept saying thank you, too.

After he finally calmed down, for the most part, he asked, “Why did you do this?”

I thought about that for a moment. “I don’t really know.”

He cocked his head at me.

“I mean, when I saw you on the street, looking at the clothes, I felt as if I had to do _something_.”

He nodded and didn’t say anything else.

My curiosity got the best of me, “How old are you?”

He looked up at me, as if surprised by my question. “I’m seventeen. You?”

“I’m twenty five.”

He gawked. “Are you in like… college or something too?”

I laughed, “Yeah. I'm going to be a scientist.” My smile fell from my face. “So how’d you end up on the streets?”

He looked down at his hands in his lap. “My parents kicked me out as soon as I graduated from high school.”

I wanted to ask why, but he seemed uncomfortable with sharing that much. So I dropped it.

“I got you one more thing.” I changed the subject. I pulled a small package out of my pocket. I threw it in his lap.

He picked it up and held it in front of his face. “A phone?” he practically yelled.

“Yes, it comes with a thousand minutes, I think.”

“No I can’t accept this!” he pushed it back in my direction. “You’ve already done too much.”

I shook my head and pushed it back towards him. “No you’ll need it if you plan on getting a job.”

Tears welled up in his eyes and he clutched the phone package against his chest. “You are the nicest person I’ve ever met!” he threw himself at me, pushing me back onto the bed and wrapping me in his warm embrace.

After a few minutes he sat up. Then he looked down. His face got extremely red when he realized he was straddling my waist.

He laughed awkwardly and got up.

I acted as if nothing had happened and pulled out my phone to check the time. “I have to leave soon, Cecil.”

His head shot up. “Really?” his bottom lip stuck out.

I resisted the urge to go “aww” and responded, “Yeah, I'm sorry. But hey,” I pulled out a pen and wrote my phone number and address on the tag of his duffel bag. “come see me, text me, or even call me anytime you want. This room is yours for tonight by the way.”

He stood up. “Can I…” he took a deep breath, “hug you again?” he seemed nervous.

I chuckled. God he was so cute. “Of course.” I pulled him into a hug. He was a little taller than me so it felt kind of like he was nuzzling my hair as he hugged me. I ignored that feeling.

“Thank you so much, Carlos.” He practically whispered into my ear.

“No problem.”


	2. Night Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's my sister's birthday wooo!!! Anyway I hope this chapter was good, I'm taking AO3 user anonymousEDward's advice and just making this a series of short drabbles!!
> 
> Also, if you like my writing and want to see one of your ideas written by me, I now have commissions open!
> 
> Since I don't know how to code here's the link: http://prostateprince.tumblr.com/commissions

After a few weeks, I heard a familiar voice on the radio. That rich, deep voice was none other than Cecil. According to the station’s website, he was the youngest person to ever obtain a job at their studio. Not that I had looked him up or anything.

Two days after that, he called me.

“Hello?” I answered my phone; I was slightly out of breath because I had to run from the bathroom to get it before it stopped ringing. I had just gotten out of the shower and was only wearing a towel; my hair was even still dripping.

There was a pause, “Carlos?” his voice was quiet, and he almost sounded shy.

“Yeah,” I ran my fingers through my wet hair.

“This is Cecil, remember me?” he was still being quiet and shy.

“Of course!” I smiled, “How could I forget?”

I heard him chuckle, “Well I was just wondering if you would like to hang out some time. I mean, you don’t have to if you're busy or you don’t want to! I was just thinking about you and how nice you were, and I would like to get to know you more. But if you don’t want to that’s fine.”

“Cecil.”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

“Ok.”

“And the answer is yes. I’m free anytime after four on weekdays, and anytime after six on weekends.”  I grinned, imagining Cecil’s smile.

“And, uh,” Cecil gave a tiny cough, “can it be like a,” he paused again. “A date?”

My head snapped up, my eyes were wide and my jaw was on the floor. After a pregnant, awkward pause, I laughed, “I’m pretty sure that’s illegal.”

“Not if we don’t…” he cut himself off. “Is that a no?”

“That’s a hell yes.”

I practically heard his happy dance. “How’s tomorrow night?”

I smiled widely, “That sounds great.”

We planned out where and when to meet and then ended the call.

Oh, I couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

I was just leaving work when I received a text.

_Hey Carlos, this is Cecil. Just wanted to let you know, even though our date’s only an hour from now, I'm really excited._

I smiled at my phone screen before typing out my reply.

_I can’t wait either. See you soon._

I went to my apartment, showered, and got dressed. My hair was getting a little long so I wrote “Get a haircut” on my to-do list, which was on the fridge, and very short.

I glanced at the clock; it was still a little too early to leave. But then I shrugged, it couldn’t hurt to be a little early.

Our meeting spot was a too far to be considered walking distance, so I took my car. The drive was short and uneventful, as expected. When I got there, I saw Cecil already waiting for me.

He was wearing khakis with a light blue button up shirt. The collar of his shirt was smoothed down, showing off his pale neck. His outfit contrasted with my black dress pants and dark green button up shirt.

I got out of my car, trying to be graceful, but ended up tripping a bit after shutting the car door. I heard him laugh a bit but as soon as I was close enough, he pulled me into a hug. I was starting to see that he was a hugger.

When I pulled away he pushed something into my hands and looked away shyly. I looked down; it was a little box with an unfamiliar design on the top. I opened it slowly, revealing a gorgeous watch. My jaw dropped again.

My eyes shot up to his nervous expression, “Oh Cecil, you didn’t have to get me anything!”

He shook his head. “It’s a thank you, for helping me get to where I am now.”

This time I pulled him into a hug, “I love it.” I patted his back softly, “I’m so proud of you.”

When we pulled apart once more, his eyes had unshed tears in them.

I grabbed his hand, “Come on, and let’s have our date.”

We went to a nice diner, a beautiful woman served us. She kept giving Cecil bedroom eyes but he didn’t spare her a second glance. The food was good, and the coffee was outstanding. I told Cecil about my need for a haircut and he pouted and begged me not to cut it.

“It’s so beautiful!” he claimed. “You can’t just throw that away!”

“Why are you getting so emotional over my hair?”

“Because it’s unjust and murder!”

“Isn’t that going a bit far?” I raised an eyebrow.

“No.” he answered simply.

The rest of the night was spent with pleasant conversation. After a while we decided to leave so we wouldn’t have to order anything else as an excuse to stay. We walked hand in hand down the quiet street, towards a park.

I told him about college and he told me about his radio station job. He told me about how he still didn’t have a place to stay and how he was just renting out motel rooms every now and then with the bit of money he got from his job. He also told me about a kitten he recently found that one of his coworkers offered to keep.

When a woman walked by with a small dog he asked if he could pet her dog. Of course, she said yes and he played with the puppy until the woman said she had to go. That lead to him telling me about his love of animals, which I thought was adorable.

Then he let me talk about my job at a bookstore near my house, where I bought discounted school books and other such supplies. They also had a café where I got all my morning coffee.

We sat on the swings, still holding hands. Only now, we weren’t talking. We sat there in the warm evening, enjoying the light breeze that kicked up leaves and played with tree branches. I felt so comfortable around him. I felt so safe and warm and just…at home near him.

Nothing more needed to be said at this point. I knew what I wanted to do next.

I looked at my new watch, secured around my wrist. It was getting late.

He seemed to notice me, “Want me to walk you back to your car?”

I nodded.

The walk back was silent too, but somehow more personal. We had gotten closer without even saying much. He put his arm around my waist and pulled me closer when he felt me shiver.

When we got to my car I turned to face him and looked shyly up at him through my eyelashes. I should’ve been embarrasses by how I was acting like I was the younger one but I wasn’t. All I cared about was how close Cecil was suddenly standing. His finger slid under my chin and tilted my head up slowly. His eyes bored into mine, seemingly checking for any signs of resist or rejection. When he saw none he leaned in at a snail’s pace. Right before his lips touched mine, someone exited the diner, laughing and chatting with someone else.

He jerked away in surprise. The moment was ruined and he didn’t show any signs of trying again so I threw my hands up around him, one hand going to bury itself in his hair and the other cupping the back of his neck.

I pulled him closer, and touched my lips to his. We stayed like that for a second before I tried to pull away but he stopped me by tangling his fingers in my hair and pulling me back. The kiss was slow but passionate.

When he released me my thoughts were scrambled. How did Cecil go from the dirty boy looking at clothes to this young, interesting, handsome boy who just kissed me?

All I knew was I needed to get my shit together before I started acting like a middle school kid with a crush.


End file.
